You Thought So!

Amy Winehouse is plotting to take control of her $20million fortune and start her own record label The Rehab singer has been discussing her secret plans with new fella Alex Haines and close aides, and intends to quit Island Records after her next album. A pal revealed: “For the first time in her career, Amy is beginning to have her head turned by the cash she can make. It’s never been a huge deal in the past, but she is beginning to realise everyone else is making all the money out of her success. Her deal with Island ends after the next record. That’s why they are trying to get her to clean up first and make sure it’s a classic. Once she gets that out she wants to set up her own label. She plans to release her own material on it, as well as her mates like Tyler James and Remi Nicole. She’s been planning it with Alex, who has a bit of music know-how from working as her manager’s assistant.” This doesn’t sound like a great idea to me. I’ve never had Amy down as a self-starter. And Alex — pictured playing on a swing while his missus worked on the new Bond theme in Henley recently — hardly looks like a business mastermind. The project is part of a big push by Amy to take control of her cash. She spoke to financial advisers about keeping jailed hubby Blake Fielder-Civil’s mitts off it before she dumped him last week. It was announced yesterday how he wants a $6million payout. Amy also discussed taking over the financial steering wheel from her dad Mitch, who currently dolls out a modest income for her to live on. It may be that her bosses at Universal, Island’s parent company, allow her to set up the label under their umbrella, with a big royalties deal as a sweetener. And if it’s not called Rehab Records, I’ll eat her beehive. Actually, on second thoughts…

While the Jonas Brothers were looking all grown up when they attended the White House Correspondents’ Association annual dinner in Washington DC on Saturday evening, it seems that the band of brothers are still pretty much in their teens when it comes to their music tastes. 20-year old Kevin, 18-year old Joe and 15-year old Nick actually confessed that their huge fans of an all-girl group. Which all-girl group would that be? The boys are apparently big fans of Girls Aloud. Considering that both groups are pretty big in their genres, a collaboration definitely needs to happen in my opinion.

Leona Lewis rocked the red carpet at the 2008 Australia MTV Awards which was held at the Australian Technology Park, Redfern on Saturday in Sydney, Australia. The British pop star’s choice of wardrobe of her silver shoes was actually due to her vegan diet. Leona said that “I get really cheap shoes because it’s not leather!” Can someone please get Leona the number of Natalie Portman? The actress launched her own vegan shoe line, The Natalie Portman Collection, earlier this year. They need to get in touch so the singer can get hooked up with really stylish shoes that are animal friendly.

Singer Amy Winehouse’s jailbird husband is demanding a £3million divorce payout as he rages over being dumped.

Junkie Blake Fielder-Civil, 25, has told his lawyers he wants £250,000 for every month of their year’s marriage, despite being behind bars for part of it. And he fumed to pals after being ditched by the 24-year-old Back to Black singer: “She wouldn’t even be alive if it wasn’t for me.”

A friend said: “At first Blake refused to believe Amy had dumped him, but his initial devastation has been replaced by rage. He said Amy owes everything to him — he inspired her music and says he saved her life. As a result of Amy his life will never be the same and he wants to make her compensate him. He has demanded £3million at the very least from her £10million fortune.”

Sources at Pentonville Prison said Fielder-Civil had gone back to his old druggie ways after it was revealed Amy had bedded her manager’s assistant ALEX HAYNES, 22. He begged for heroin from another lag and inhaled it after getting his first clean drugs report in three months.

He has since been put on suicide watch at the North London jail, where he is held on remand awaiting a hearing on assault and trial-fixing charges.

Meanwhile Amy’s dad Mitch, 57, gave her new love his blessing yesterday after cutting short a Spanish holiday and flying home.

Mitch spent an hour with Amy and Alex at her mews home in Camden and was relieved to find her back on track after a wild boozy spree last week.

Later Amy emerged dressed in hot pants and knotted cropped shirt. Alex left the house alone to avoid them being pictured together.

The Veronicas will begin their U.S. tour in May with Natasha Bedingfield and Kate Voegele. Tickets go on sale TODAY, so get yours before they sell out! Head over to TheVeronicas.com for more info and updates.

Verizon VIP Tour starring Natasha Bedingfield with special guests The Veronicas and Kate Voegele

Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Myrtle Beach, SC
House of Blues

Friday, May 23, 2008
Orlando, FL
House of Blues

Saturday, May 24, 2008*
Clearwater, FL
Ruth Eckerd Hall

Sunday, May 25, 2008*
Greenville, SC
Heritage Park

Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Atlanta, GA
Variety Playhouse

Wednesday, May 28, 2008*
Charlotte, NC
Whisky River

Friday, May 30, 2008*
Savannah, GA
Forsyth Park

Saturday, May 31, 2008*
Norfolk, VA
The Norva

Monday, June 2, 2008
Cleveland, OH
House of Blues

Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Indianapolis, IN
Egyptian Room at the Murat

Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Detroit, MI
St. Andrews Hall

Friday, June 6, 2008
Cincinnati, OH
Bogarts

Sunday, June 8, 2008
St. Louis, MO
The Pageant

Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Dallas, TX
House of Blues

Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Houston, TX
Verizon Theater – Club V

Thursday, June 12, 2008*
New Orleans, LA
House of Blues

Monday, June 16, 2008
Philadelphia, PA
The Fillmore at the TLA

Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Baltimore, MD
Rams Head Live

Friday, June 20, 2008
Atlantic City, NJ
Borgata Music Box

Sunday, June 22, 2008*
Hampton Beach, NH
Club Casino

Tuesday, June 24, 2008*
Boston, MA
Paradise

Wednesday, June 25, 2008
New York, NY
Irving Plaza

Monday, June 30, 2008
Denver, CO
Gothic Theater

Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Las Vegas, NV
House of Blues
Ticket onsale TBA

Saturday, July 5, 2008
San Diego, CA
House of Blues

Monday, July 7, 2008
Anaheim, CA
House of Blues

Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Hollywood, CA
House of Blues

Thursday, July 10, 2008
San Francisco, CA
Fillmore Theater

Ashlee Simpson’s album, Bittersweet World, is in stores today! Timbaland, Chad Hugo of The Neptunes, and Kenna are among the talented contributors that helped craft Ashlee’s third album. Ashlee wrote or cowrote every track on the album and the final product is a mix of ballads, radio-friendly anthems and dance floor ditties that will get your booty shaking.

Head over to iTunes to get the party started and buy Bittersweet World now.

Rihanna and Maroon 5 are teaming up for a remake of the song ‘If I Never See Your Face Again’ which will appear on re-releases of both big-name artisits. Rihanna and Maroon 5 front man Adam Levine spoke to MTV News about it with Rihanna saying “We’re both re-releasing our albums — mine’s out June 17. This is the only collaboration on my re-release, because I always wanted to work with Maroon 5. They’re one of my favorite bands. When they called me to do this record with them, I was so honored.” Adam then adds “The song was basically done, but we wanted to try something different, so we had her come in and do bits and pieces. It came together so quick. The only other collaboration I had done before was with Kanye, and it was the same way. It sounds cheesy, but if the magic is there, if the chemistry is there, you don’t even have to think about it.”

Just like with Mariah Carey, Madonna’s album has leaked onto the internet. Half of her album popped up in the cyber world over the weekend while the remaining half came out on Monday. While it’s disappointing that it was leaked out, I’m pretty relieved by what I heard. The songs aren’t straight up hip hop as some may be concerned due to the single choice of ‘4 Minutes (To Save the World) but rather stays true to Madonna’s core as a pop/dance artist. And just to let you know, Pharell’s songs completely blow Timbaland’s songs out of the water. I think she just chose her latest single because of Justin Timberlake’s possible appeal to other audiences.

Jordan Sparks And Chris Brown Perform ” No Air” at American Idol

Madonna is truly raking in the money. Apart from having her multi million Live Nation deal and having one of the biggest hits all over the world with ‘4 Minutes (To Save the World)’, the Queen of Pop is reportedly about to close a deal to play 2 concerts in the money rich place of Dubai. The deal is worth $25 million! For 2 gigs? Damn! A source close to the negotiations has stated that “Madonna is about to break another record by playing the most lucrative concert of her whole career – or anyone’s career for that matter.” Does anyone else want to have Madonna’s life for a day?

Lily Allen’s new album demos are a window into her alarmingly bleak view of the world at the moment.

The songbird has swapped the sunny pop songs of first album Alright, Still for dark, troubling ditties focusing on the negative side of success. She picks over the bones of a painful break-up on one track and confronts feelings of paranoia on another.

Both are on her MySpace page.

Frank and shocking I Don’t Know is about the pressures of living life in the public eye. She sings: “I don’t know what’s right and what’s real any more.”

She adds: “I’m being taken over by the fear.”

And on the touchy subject of weight, she sings: “Everything’s cool as long as I’m getting thinner.”

Meanwhile, I Could Say is a venomous dig at an ex – Ed Simons from the Chemical Brothers, I wonder?

Lil evidently wants high-brow critical acclaim with her new-found serious side – and she’s likely to get it.

A new showbiz romance is blossoming between Mark Ronson and underwear model Daisy Lowe. The superstar producer has worked his charms on the teenage modelling sensation – and the pair are now firmly an item.

If 18-year-old Daisy wasn’t the offspring of former Bush rocker Gavin Rossdale and hellraiser Peral Lowe I’m pretty sure the 14-year age gap would have been a problem for her parents.

But not for Mark.

He was introduced to Daisy last year by their mutual pal Sean Lennon, son of Beatles legend John.

Mark, 32, was instantly smitten with the Agent Provocateur model’s stunning looks and cheeky personality, starting a charm offensive on the spot. He took her to The Brits as his secret date in February – when he won the Best Male Artist award – and she was snapped looking mighty fine.

And since then his efforts to win her affections have gone into overdrive – even flying her to Miami for a sunsoaked holiday.

Anything to catch a glimpse of her in the freebie undies from her big employers, eh?

Matchbox 20 is canceling a show at Cheyenne Frontier Days, which bills itself as the world’s biggest outdoor rodeo, over their newfound concern for the animals involved. You would think that they wouldn’t schedule a show their since it’s a rodeo. The band’s front man Rob Thomas and his wife Marisol posted a statement on the band’s website regarding the matter. “We ask that (fans) please understand that it would be impossible for us to put ourselves in the position of making money from what we believe to be the mistreatment of animals.” Ironically, the band is still scheduled to perform at the North Dakota State Fair which also includes rodeo events.

Taylor Swift attended the 2008 CMT Music Awards which was held at the Curb Events Center at Belmont University on Monday in Nashville Tennessee. The young singer also performed on the show and even picked up the award for Best Female Video for her hit single ‘Our Song’. The 18-year old singer could barely believe she won, saying “Are you serious? I can’t even believe this.” And who would when the rest of the nominees included Carrie Underwood, LeAnn Rimes, Martina McBride and Miranda Lambert? Congrats Taylor! You may have been in the company of stiff competition but you definitely deserved it!

It’s pretty clear to the public that rock icon Joan Jett is a lesbian yet everyone is still wondering why she hasn’t publicly come out with it yet. The rocker recently spoke to Spinner magazine and shed some light on that. She says “It really boils down to this: I want to please everybody. I want every guy and every girl thinking that I’m singing these songs to them, because I am. If I make a hard, fast case on where I stand then that takes away a lot of the fantasy. Music entails a lot of fantasy. I want people to be able to go there with me. Some people might think it’s a cop-out. I don’t care. That’s how I feel.”

Prince charged fans $200 a ticket for a surprise concert.

The musician performed the impromptu set at Hollywood’s Green Door bar on Wednesday night in front of 250 people, all of who had to pay in cash for the privilege.

The 49-year-old star appeared on stage just after midnight and performed a selection of his greatest hits, including ‘1999′, ‘Let’s Go Crazy’, ‘Cream’ and ‘Kiss’. He also treated fans to a cover of Herbie Hancock’s ‘Chameleon’, before closing the show with ‘Purple Rain’.

A host of celebrities were in the audience, including pop star Pink, actress Tara Reid, Melanie Griffith and British soccer star-turned-actor Vinnie Jones.

Prince had performed a surprise concert at the venue two weeks earlier.

On that occasion he did not charge an entrance fee. Yesterday, it was reported Prince will be paid a whopping $4.8 million to perform at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in California on April 25.

It was just a couple of weeks ago that Ashlee Simpson said that she got a promise ring from Fall Out Boy boyfriend Pete Wentz. Now, In Touch is reporting that the couple is engaged. A family friend says that “He got down on one knee and she said yes. She has an amazing ring, and they are so in love.” Ashlee just released a statement to FriendsOrEnemies saying “Yes, we are thrilled to share that we are happily engaged. Thank you for all of your support and well wishes – it means the world to us. We consider this to be a very private matter, and we wanted to be the first to tell you and to hear it straight from us.”

A lot of people have made money off of Eminem, whether it be a record label off of his sales or his mom off of a book. Debbie Nelson has made a pretty fat penny off the rapper by trashing him in her book and now that the book is about to be released in the US, some guy wants a piece of the action too. Neal Alpert says that he’s owed a quarter of Debbie’s loot because he claims that she was under contract with him when she wrote the book. Debbie has already sold 100,000 copies of ‘My Son Marshall, My Son Eminem’ in the UK and it’s due for release in the US next month.

Classic songs have been massacred every week on American Idol and it’s not any different this week. I just find it really sad that they still end up butchering the songs that inspire them. Michael Johns did piss poor with Aerosmith’s ‘Dream On’, Syesha Mercado lost herself in Fantasia’s ‘I Believe’, David Cook got called on unoriginality with Our Lady Peace’s ‘Innocent’, Carly Smithson got pitchy on Queen’s ‘The Show Must Go On’ and Brooke White was just plain fine on James Taylor’s ‘You’ve Got a Friend’. Sensational performances though from Jason Castro with a reggae version of Judy Garland’s ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow’, Kristy Lee Cook with Martina McBride’s ‘Anyway’ and David Archuleta with Robbie Williams’ ‘Angels’.

Celine Dion performed on stage at the Acer Arena this past Saturday in Sydney, Australia. The Canadian Grammy Award-winning singer opened up the show by singing ‘I Drove All Night’ and followed it up with her classic ‘The Power of Love’. I’ll give you three guesses as to what her final song was and the last two guesses don’t count. Is anyone even going to wonder why she would sing the ‘Titanic’ anthem ‘My Heart Will Go On’? No one can deny that the piece is classic and timeless – even if it can get a bit sickening if played over and over.